History of Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd.
Among the various plastics, phenolic resin has the oldest history. It was developed by Dr. Leo H. Baekeland, an American of Belgian ancestry, in 1907 and he named that synthetic resin “Bakelite”. In 1911, Sankyo Company (currently Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd.) was assigned the rights to execute the patents in Japan through the good offices of Dr. Jokichi Takamine, a close friend of Dr. Baekeland. Trial production of phenolic resin was started at the Shinagawa Plant of Sankyo Company. That was the origin of the Japan’s plastics industry, and the name of our company came from this achievement.
In 1932, phenolic resin business of Sankyo Co., Ltd. was separated and formed Nippon Bakelite Co., Ltd. In 1955, Nippon Bakelite Co., Ltd. merged with Sumitomo Synthetic Resin Industries, Ltd. to found Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. As a pioneer in plastics, with our expertise in and up-to-date facilities for plastics, we have been always developing new technologies for use in various fields in order to contribute to establishing safe and comfortable living.
| Year | History of Nippon Bakelite Co., Ltd. | History of Sumitomo Synthetic Resin Industries, Ltd. (Sumitomo Kakouzai Kogyo KK) |
| 1932 | Founding of Nippon Bakelite Co., Ltd. | |
| Succeeded phenolic resin business from Sankyo Co., Ltd. | ||
| Started sales of phenolic molding compounds | ||
| 1938 | Mukojima Plant of Sankyo Co., Ltd. was renamed as Mukojima Plant of Nippon Bakelite Co., Ltd. | Founding of Gosei Jushi Kogyosho K.K. |
| 1941 | Started manufacture of industrial laminates | |
| 1944 | Started molding operations at Nishio Plant and Nakano Plant to sell molded products. | Renamed as Sumitomo Synthetic Resin Industries, Ltd. |
| 1945 | Renamed as Nippon Synthetic Resin Industries, Ltd. | |
| 1949 | Listed on Tokyo Stock Exchange and Osaka Stock Exchange. | |
| 1950 | Listed on Osaka Stock Exchange. | |
| 1951 | The crown prince of Japan visited Mukojima Plant. | Started manufacture of “DECOLA” melamine decorative laminates. |
| 1952 | Started mass-production of PVC compounds. | |
| Renamed as Sumitomo Synthetic Resin Industries, Ltd. (Name of Sumitomo revived.) | ||
| History of Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. | ||
| 1955 | Nippon Bakelite Co., Ltd. and Sumitomo Synthetic Resin Industries, Ltd. merged to form “Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd.” | |
| Started manufacture of PVC sheet, “SUMILITE” VS. | ||
| 1957 | Kawasaki Plant was opened. | |
| 1959 | Started manufacture of phenolic copper-clad laminates, “SUMILITE” PLC with domestic made copper foil. | |
| 1962 | Central Research Laboratory (currently Fundamental Research Laboratory) was opened. | |
| Shizuoka Plant was opened. | ||
| Developed epoxy copper-clad laminates, “SUMILITE” ELC. | ||
| Started sales of rigid PVC sheet, “SUMILITE” VSS for various packaging needs. | ||
| 1963 | Established Sumitomo Durez Co., Ltd. in Japan as a joint venture company with Hooker Chemical Corporation of USA. | |
| 1965 | Started mass-production of DAP (Diallylphthalate) molding compounds | |
| Started sales of copper-clad flexible circuit material, “SUMILITE” TFC | ||
| 1968 | Developed epoxy molding compound, “SUMIKON”EME, for low pressure encapsulation of semiconductor devices. | |
| 1972 | Established Kyushu Bakelite Industry Co., Ltd. (currently Kyushu Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd.) | |
| 1973 | Established Akita Bakelite Co., Ltd. (currently Akita Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd.) | |
| 1981 | Established CMK Singapore Pte. Ltd. as a joint venture company with Chuo Meiban Kogyo Co., Ltd. (currently CMK Corporation) of Japan. | |
| Introduced manufacturing technology of intravenous solutions bags from a company in UK. | ||
| Started sales of various kind of laboratory wares | ||
| 1984 | Utsunomiya Plant was opened. | |
| 1987 | Mukojima Plant was closed. | |
| 1988 | Kawasaki Plant and Kyoto Plant were closed. | |
| Founding of Sumicarrier Singapore Pte. Ltd. | ||
| Founding of Tsu-Kong Co., Ltd. | ||
| 1989 | Sumitomo Bakelite Singapore Pte. Ltd. was established and opened. | |
| 1990 | SNC Industrial Laminates Sdn. Bhd. was established in Malaysia as a joint venture company with CMK Corporation. | |
| 1991 | Kobe Fundamental Research Laboratory was opened. | |
| 1994 | SFC Co., Ltd. and other subsidiaries in Akita area were merged to form Akita Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. | |
| 1995 | Sumitomo Bakelite (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. was established in China. | |
| 1998 | Sumitomo Bakelite (Taiwan) Co., Ltd. was established. | |
| 1999 | Founding of Basec Hong Kong Limited. | |
| 2000 | Bakelite Shoji Co., Ltd. was merged. | |
| 2001 | Acquired phenolic resin related business of Occidental Chemical Corporation in North America and Belgium. | |
| Sumitomo Durez Co., Ltd. was merged into Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. | ||
| Acquired electronic materials research department of Goodrich Corporation in USA. | ||
| Established Decolanitto Corporation as a joint venture company with Nitto Boseki Co., Ltd. in Japan | ||
| Established Sumitomo Bakelite Vietnam Co., Ltd. | ||
| Established Sumitomo Bakelite Macau Co., Ltd. | ||
| 2002 | Information & Telecommunication Material Laboratories was opened. | |
| 2003 | Started S-BIO project team in Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. | |
| Acquired Fers Resins, S.A. and its subsidiaries (Fers Group) in Spain. | ||
| Changchun SB (Changshu) Co., Ltd. was established in China as a joint venture company with Chang Chun Plastics Co., Ltd. | ||
| 2004 | Tsutsunaka Plastic Industry Co., Ltd. became a subsidiary of Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. | |
| 2005 | Acquired Vyncolit N.V. in Belgium and Vyncolit North America , Inc. in USA from Perstorp AB of Sweden. | |
| 2007 | Established S-BIO business development department. | |
| Established Sumitomo Bakelite (Nantong) Co., Ltd. in China. | ||
| Tsutsunaka Plastic Industry Co., Ltd. was merged into Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. | ||
| SNC Industrial Laminates Sdn. Bhd. became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. | ||
| Acquired Neopreg AG in Switzerland. | ||
| 2008 | Sunbake Co., Ltd., an affiliate became a subsidiary of Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. | |
| Decolanitto Corporation was merged into Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. | ||
| Started mass-production of LαZ substrates. | ||
| 2009 | Established S-BIO business division | |
| Artlite Kogyo Co., Ltd. was closed. Production was transferred to Shizuoka plant. | ||
| Tsu Plant was closed. Production was transferred to Shizuoka plant. | ||
| 2011 | Integrated Fundamental Research Laboratory and Kobe Fundamental Research Laboratory into Advanced Technologies R&D Laboratory. | |
| Restructured Electronic Device Materials Research Laboratories I & II into Electronic Device Materials Research Laboratory. | ||
| Transferred Nara Plant and Waterproof related function of Kanuma Plant to S.B.Sheet Waterproof Systems Co., Ltd. for organization production and sales activities in one place. | ||
| 2012 | Established Sumibe Korea Co., Ltd. | |
| Transferred the entire equity interest in Sumitomo Bakelite Vietnam Co., Ltd. owned by Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. to Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. for withdrawal from the flexible printed circuit business. | ||
| 2013 | Established SBE India Private Limited | |
| Established Sumibe (Taiwan) Co., Ltd. | ||
| 2014 | Osaka Office was opened. | |
| Acquired Vaupell Holdings, Inc. in USA. | ||
| Acquired operations through property acquisition of Ezose Sciences Inc., a USA subsidiary of Shionogi & Co., Ltd. | ||
| 2015 | Started S-BIO operation in Vaupell Holdings, Inc. in USA., a group company of Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd. | |